Was up in Coon Rapids on this slightly snowy Friday evening to catch my first Anoka-Ramsey home game of the season; this one being against Vermillion Community College located up in Ely. From what I had seen of the Golden Rams during their scrimmages in the first few weeks of the season I knew this team had a lot of work ahead of it but I also knew that Head Coach David DeWitt would eventually work out the kinks and have his team rolling in the right direction before long.
But it was actually Anoka-Ramsey that got off to a somewhat auspicious start on this night - and it happened even before the ball was tipped. Sophomore Kelli Schramm, the transfer from UW-Eau Claire, rolled her ankle in warm-ups doing a lay-up and coming down on one foot. Fortunately for the Golden Rams, the injury wasn't too serious and the trainers had her left ankle taped up that allowed her to play. Nonetheless, it was the Ironwomen who bolted off to a quick 6-0 lead as freshman Mariah McDonald scored led the way with scores at the 18:58 and 17:48 marks. However, Anoka-Ramsey did get jostled out of their early sleepwalk enough to respond with an elongated 22-4 run that went over a period of over ten minutes. First, freshman sharpshooter Nicole Schaub knocked down a "3" from the left wing at the 16:58 mark and then diminutive freshman Kendra Norman got one of her own from that very same spot at the 14:36 mark. Anoka-Ramsey tied the score at 8-all by the 11:58 mark and then freshman guard Natasha Ambrose gave the Golden Rams the lead for good at the 11:10 mark with her "3" from the right wing. Sophomore Tacita Gonzalez scored on a lay-up in transition at the 8:47 mark. Freshman Paris Finklea scored inside at the 6:37 mark and then it was Ambrose's turn from behind the arc once again as she drained a "3" from the right corner with 5:12 left and Schramm knocked down two "freebies" at the 5:12 mark after being fouled. Then with time running down in the first half, it was another three-point bomb from the left wing from the sweet-shooting Schaub that upped the Golden Rams lead to 29-13 before Vermillion's McDonald got two more points on the board for the Ironwomen with :28 left with a jumper as Anoka-Ramsey took a 29-15 lead into the locker room at halftime. Despite leading by 14, you just felt that Anoka-Ramsey didn't quite bring their "A" game into this one - at least in the first half anyway. The intensity didn't quite seem to be there; certainly from a defensive standpoint and they arguably left a lot of points off the board.
But as the willowy blonde Schaub who hails from Park Center H.S. (and whose younger sister Hannah is part of a young core of players that is helping make the Pirates a force to contend with in the Northwest Suburban Conference) explained to me afterward, DeWitt emphasized rebounding and filling in the gaps on defense as recipes for success in the second half and it was quite evident as the second half began that the Golden Rams came out with a newfound sense of urgency and intensity. Despite Vermillion freshman Tyesha Wright's lay-up to get things started in the second half, the Golden Rams went on a 10-0 run to up their lead to 39-17 by the 16:15 mark; fueled by "3's" from Schaub and sophomore Cami Bauer and a jumper along the left baseline by Schramm before Wright's "3" from the right top at the 16:27 mark temporarily stopped the bleeding for the Ironwomen. Vermillion tried to match the shooting prowess of their opponent as freshman Teneisha Brooks connected with a lay-up at the 14:41 mark and also banged home a long jumper just inside the three-point line at the 14:02 mark and McDonald swished a "3"from the left top at the 13:22 mark.
But each one of these punches by the Ironwomen was met and beat by the Golden Rams. Bauer was just getting warmed up when she connected again behind the arc from the left corner spot at the 15:55 mark and then it was Norman with her own "3" from the right top at the 13:37 mark as the Golden Rams were able to maintain that 20-point cushion past the midway point of the second half. Anoka-Ramsey was not content, however, as they gradually upped the lead to thirty coming down the stretch. Freshman Shelby Zimmel out of Coon Rapids connected behind the arc with 4:48 left and then Gonzalez made two hard drives and finishes at the 4:03 and 3:35 marks, respectively and then it was Bauer who put the finishing touches on this victory with her three-point bombs at the 3:06 and 2:20 marks that ballooned the Anoka-Ramsey lead as the Golden Rams waltzed to a resounding 77-43 win.
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